Paul Audley Meyer

Paul Meyer is survived by a large and loving family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His daughter Janet Anderson and her husband Kevin are the parents of Paul’s grandchildren Bobby Anderson and his wife Sarah; Katie Anderson; and Danny Anderson and his wife Hannah, parents of great-grandson Ozzy. His daughter Ruth Palmer and her husband Bill are the parents of Paul’s grandchildren Jeff Palmer; Andy Palmer and his wife Alissa; David Palmer and his wife Jacki, parents of great-grandchildren Noah, Adam, and Shane; and Tim Palmer and his wife Amy, parents of great-grandchildren Rosey, Joey, Allie, and Maddie. His daughter Kathy Grossman and her husband Frank are the parents of Paul’s grandchildren Suzi Grossman and Jenny Grossman. His son is Eric Meyer and his wife Michelle Osborne. Paul is also survived by many nieces and nephews and their families.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents Otto and Arzella Meyer of Elmore, Ohio, and his four older siblings, James, John, Howard, and Phyllis. He was also preceded by his wives Suzanne Snell, who he married in 1956 and who died in 1979, and Dorothy Wolcott, who he married in 1993 and who died in 1999.

Paul was a lifelong tinkerer, adventurer, horticulturist, builder, teacher, and jack-of-all-trades. He grew up in Elmore, Ohio on a farm during the Great Depression, where he learned how to be creative and resilient. When his brothers and sister went off to war, he and his father were left to manage the family farm as well as helping with several neighboring farms to support the war effort. He convinced his dad to purchase a gas-powered milking machine for the cows to lessen the burden of chores before and after school, and later wired the farm for electricity. He attended college at his beloved Ohio State University to study floriculture through a Navy ROTC scholarship. Upon graduation, he served a four-year tour of duty as a Navy pilot, traveling around the world while taking off and landing on aircraft carriers. He was a pilot assigned to the VS 21 air anti-submarine squadron. On one of his Trans-Pacific navy cruises, he attended a USO dance in Hawaii where he met his future wife, Suzanne “Suzi” Snell. After only one night dancing and one further date before his ship sailed, at the urging of a crewmate Paul started corresponding with Suzi through letters. Paul recently was asked the best unsolicited advice he was given in his life, and said it was his crewmate’s advice to write to the girl he met at that dance. When Paul finished his military service, Suzi moved to Ohio, where they were married in 1956.

Paul and Suzi built and ran a greenhouse and florist business, mainly growing chrysanthemums for florists in Toledo and Detroit and selling locally in Elmore. They supplied the football mums each year for Woodmore High School’s Homecoming. When the greenhouse was hit by the 1970s oil crisis and then damaged beyond repair by winter storms, Paul spent four years as a teacher, first at Vanguard Vocational School in Fremont and then at Genoa public schools. Paul then went to work as a kiln operator and then later as an electrician at Woodville Lime Company, which merged with Martin-Marietta at a time when Paul was president of the local union. Paul retired from Martin-Marietta in 1993. Paul was active in Elmore Christian Church as an elder and the Elmore Masonic Temple Portage Lodge, and was a supporter of the Woodmore schools, attending events even after all his children had graduated.

In the 1970s, he used his building and tinkering skills to build a house for his family entirely from scratch, a house that became his labor of love and could never really be considered finished, since he always had new ideas to try out. He grew apple trees and strawberries by the score, he installed geo-thermal heating by hand, and he tried more new and innovative ideas on the house and land than we could possibly list. He had a knack for convincing others to help him on his numerous projects and family members are grateful for the new skills learned along the way.

Paul’s lifelong love of Elmore didn’t diminish his love of travel. Whether it was sailing his catamaran on Lake Erie, going to an annual family reunion held in different locations each year, buying an RV to travel to national parks across the country and fly kites in beautiful locations, or cruising the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, and through the Panama Canal, Paul was keen to see new things and to keep learning. He had so many special adventures - a cross country RV trip with a grandchild, piloting a vintage B-26 airplane in Fort Worth (they told us he was the oldest person at 91 to ever fly it) with two of his grandchildren, traveling to the UK and Europe to visit family members, taking grandchildren to the Rose Bowl parade, taking an Honor Flight to Washington D.C., the list goes on and on. He was an avid reader, always happy to sit down with a good book, and loved both nonfiction and fiction. He was also a lifelong whiz at crossword puzzles though his family liked to chuckle when he would put two letters in a box because he was certain his answer was correct. Considering he was normally a shy, quiet man, he had the knack for meeting people on trains, at laundromats, riding his scooter, flying kites, and walking his little dog, Shadow. He also loved being of service and worked on multiple Habitat for Humanity projects. https://www.habitat.org/

A family celebration of his life will be held later this year in his hometown of Elmore, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Habitat for Humanity. https://www.habitat.org/